People in the US can now finally vote for the pirate party. While we’ve covered attempts in the US before, it has only been in the last few days that there was any official recognition of the party. Now, if you live in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts (as the state is termed), you can register as a Pirate, and vote for Pirate candidates.

The party gained official recognition at the end of February, when its 50 supporters were verified by the state, allowing it to run candidates, and for voters to label themselves under the pirate name.

However, the party is not a member of the US pirate party, and takes a stance closer to that of the Swedish party rather than the less restrictive positions of many other parties.

The party is headed by James O’Keefe, who, like other successful pirate politicians (such as Christian Engstrom) has previously run for office with other parties. O’Keefe ran for State Treasurer in both 2002 and 2006 with the Green Party, coming in second in 2006 with 322,000 votes (16%).